U.S. Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.), who represents the congressional district that includes the Santa Susana Field Laboratory cleanup site, resigned from Congress Sunday days after the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into whether she violated congressional rules.
The panel announced plans Oct. 23 to investigate allegations that Hill engaged in a sexual relationship with a member of her congressional staff.
Hill “has acknowledged errors in judgment that made her continued service as a Member untenable,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a Sunday statement. “We must ensure a climate of integrity and dignity in the Congress, and in all workplaces.”
Hill’s resignation letter posted on Twitter did not list a resignation date, although Politico cited sources saying it might be effective as soon as Friday, Nov. 1.
Since winning more than 54% of the vote against two-term incumbent Rep. Stephen Knight (R-Calif.) in November 2018, Hill landed seats on the House Armed Services and Science, Space, and Technology committees.
During a hearing of the latter committee in June, Hill questioned Energy Secretary Rick Perry – who himself is leaving office by Dec. 1 – on whether his agency is living up to its prior commitments to California for remediation of its portion of the former 2,850-acre rocket testing and nuclear research complex in Ventura County.
The U.S. Energy Department is responsible for remediation of up 470 acres at SSFL that includes the agency’s Energy Technology Engineering Center. The DOE site hosted nuclear power-related research from the mid-1960s until 1988.
The agency issued an environmental impact statement (EIS) in December 2018 on remediation of contaminated soil within the DOE area at Santa Susana. The Energy Department plans to remove about 38,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil rather than extracting hundreds of thousands of additional cubic yards, as lawmakers and public interest groups expected. Perry told the hearing that the contamination was not as bad as expected.
